Jaycee Dugard to get $20 million in settlement

JAYCEE DUGARD CASE

Published 4:00 am, Friday, July 2, 2010

Photo: Carl Probyn, File, AP

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FILE- This Aug. 27, 2009 file family photo released by Carl Probyn shows his stepdaughter, Jaycee Lee Dugard who went missing in 1991. California lawmakers have approved a $20 million settlement with the family of Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped as a girl and held captive for 18 years by a paroled sex offender. Lawmakers approved the settlement Thursday with a 30-1 vote in the Senate and a 62-0 vote in the Assembly. (AP Photo/Carl Probyn, File)
Ran on: 07-02-2010
Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped in 1991 from South Lake Tahoe.
Ran on: 07-02-2010
Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped in 1991 from South Lake Tahoe.
Ran on: 07-08-2010
Jaycee Dugard was 11 when she was kidnapped in South Lake Tahoe. Now she is 30 and has two children.
Ran on: 08-04-2010
Jaycee Lee Dugard went missing in 1991. less

FILE- This Aug. 27, 2009 file family photo released by Carl Probyn shows his stepdaughter, Jaycee Lee Dugard who went missing in 1991. California lawmakers have approved a $20 million settlement with the family ... more

Photo: Carl Probyn, File, AP

Jaycee Dugard to get $20 million in settlement

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Kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard and the two children authorities say she had with her alleged abductor - a paroled sex offender - will receive a $20 million payout from the state under a settlement lawmakers approved Thursday.

Dugard, now 30, was kidnapped in 1991 from South Lake Tahoe when she was 11 years old and discovered in Phillip Garrido's backyard Antioch compound in August.

In a claim filed against the California Department of Corrections in February, Dugard and her family accused the agency of "various lapses," and said she and her family suffered "psychological, physical and emotional injury" while she was held as a virtual sex slave for nearly two decades. Her children are now 12 and 15 years old.

Dugard's alleged abductor, convicted kidnapper and rapist Garrido, was on parole in California for a decade of her captivity. In the claim, Dugard said she would have been discovered sooner if the department and agents had effectively monitored Garrido.

Garrido, 58, and his wife, Nancy, 54, have been charged with 29 criminal counts in connection with the case and have pleaded not guilty.

A joint statement from the state Department of Justice and Dugard said the $20 million will "help them reunite with their family and obtain the services and treatment that they need to overcome their ordeal in an environment that is free from unwanted press scrutiny."

Both houses of the Legislature overwhelmingly approved the settlement. The state Assembly passed the bill 70-2, with seven members not voting, and the Senate voted 30-1 in favor, with eight members not voting. A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he plans to sign the bill.

"There are two elements to this appropriations - one, the state recognized the significant risk of proceeding with a jury trial," said Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar (Los Angeles County), the bill's sponsor. "But equally important is the recognition, acknowledgement, that the state absolutely needs to account for the lifetime health care, counseling and education to these folks for these horrible, unimaginable acts."